A Gilmore Girl & A (Sorta) Gilmore Guy
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: When a brutal car accident takes Lorelai Gilmore's life, Luke Danes must step up and become the only thing he isn't sure he can be: Rory's father. How would the original series have been different if Luke was the parent? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1: Take Care of My Girl

**Chapter 1: Take Care of My Girl**

Luke Danes enjoyed the quiet of Stars Hollow. The soft, sleepy streets and the friendly people constituted the peace one might find in a retirement of sorts. Even if Luke was still operating his own diner, it was tranquility compared to his past life.

Luke had seen a lot in his 42 years. He had gone through what school he could, and was even offered a baseball scholarship at a local college. That was in 1976, but Luke had turned the scholarship down, deciding instead to help out his family's business and especially his father. At that time, William Danes had been suffering from PTSD inflicted by his experiences serving in Vietnam and particularly his memories of the Fall of Saigon. William's Hardware store mainly served as a way for the elder Danes to still work with his hands and distract him. And it did, for a time, at least until he got cancer.

William had always had a guilty pleasure for unhealthy foods, stubbornly refusing the more nutritious alternatives his son suggested. Finally, in fall 1989, the old man passed away. Grieving, Luke desperately searched for an outlet. When Sadaam Hussein invaded Kuwait several months later, Luke found that outlet and joined up. Operation Desert Storm was brief, but Luke's time in the Army not only allowed him to follow in his father's footsteps, but also gave him the discipline he needed to accept William's death. Upon returning, he even had a job ready and waiting for him, as his mother had converted the old hardware store into the diner Luke had always dreamed of opening.

Luke's hometown of Stars Hollow, Connecticut welcomed him back with open arms. Despite his gruff exterior - exacerbated by his time in the Army - Luke managed to make friends. His closest would be a mother-daughter pair known as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. Luke fed them almost every day, giving Lorelai her regular cups of coffee to get her through her job at the Independence Inn, where she worked as the Executive Manager. Rory often did her homework at the diner, and Luke would watch her if Lorelai was out.

One autumn night in the fall of 2000, Luke was just winding down his shift for the day when Lorelai and Rory came rushing in.

"Coffee!" Lorelai demanded like she was a dying woman.

Luke turned back to her, pot in hand, thoroughly unamused. "How many cups have you had today?"

"None"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Plus?"

"Five, but yours is better!"

Luke looked from mother to daughter, shaking his pot at Rory. "She being straight with me, princess?"

16-year-old Rory nodded. "And she's gonna need it, too. We're going to the state fair over in Hartford!"

"Why can't you just get coffee there?"

"Because!" Lorelai explained. "They put them in these shitty little cups and give you too much sugar on purpose so you'll get high off their products and just buy more!"

"And this is a problem for you, why? You're always raiding the doughnuts stand in here!" Luke pointed out. Rory giggled.

"Who could have guessed you knew my mother's eating habits better than I did?" An idea suddenly formed in Rory's mind. "Hey, Luke, why don't you come with us? It'd be fun!"

"I don't do state fairs," Luke frowned. "Besides, I got a date tonight."

Rory's eyes shone, ignoring the almost unnoticeable flash of disappointment on her mother's face. "With who?"

"My sister. So it really isn't a date at all." He crossed to the stairs leading up to his apartment loft. "LIZ! Get outta the shower! I need to take one and change!"

"Oooh, fancy, fancy!" Lorelai teased, back to her bubbly self. "Dinner, I take it?"

"A show. Stars Hollow High is putting on _Miss Saigon_. Our dad served in Vietnam and we thought we'd go to think of him."

Lorelai blinked, suddenly realizing. "It's the anniversary of his death, isn't it?" she whispered. When Luke nodded, she touched his arm. "Oh, Luke... I'm sorry..."

Luke shook his head. "Not your fault." He now heard the water being shut off upstairs. "I gotta go. Have fun at the fair!"

Lorelai suddenly hugged him. "Have fun at the show!" She left with Rory following, the teen giving him a wave out the door. Luke smiled after them.

He didn't know it then, but he had just seen one of the Gilmore girls for the last time.

* * *

A few hours later, it was intermission at the auditorium. Moving into the lobby, Liz stepped out of her high heels to rest her feet.

"Man! Depressing as hell, and still with an act to go!" she grumbled. "Any concessions anywhere?"

Luke spotted a stand and pointed his sister in its direction, even as he moved to turn on his phone and check for messages. An unfamiliar number popped onto his screen, indicating he had a voicemail. Luke listened for it.

"Mr. Danes, this is Dr. Shandley at Hartford Hospital. We have Ms. Lorelai Gilmore in the Trauma Unit; there's been a car accident. Her daughter told us you were the person to call..."

Luke's heart plummeted like a stone. Oh Holy God... He didn't wait to hear the rest of the message, leaping for the concession stand.

"Liz, we have to go!"

"Luke! What the hell? It's only intermission!"

"Tough. My best friend is in the Emergency Room from a car accident, and her daughter is probably in hysterics! Let's go!"

Brother and sister raced out of the theatre.

* * *

Hartford Hospital was bustling when the Danes siblings got there. Luke flung himself at the front desk.

"Lorelai Gilmore! What room is she in?"

"Room 75," the receptionist directed him. Luke tore down the hall, Liz worriedly following him. Nearing the room, Luke saw Rory outside on a bench, head in her arms.

"Rory!"

"Luke!" The teenager flung herself into his arms without another thought. She burst into tears on his shoulder.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, but Mom took the brunt to protect me! We were almost to the fair - a trailer tractor ran a red and T-boned us! - She's... she's..." Rory couldn't finish as the sobs overtook her.

Watching the scene unfold, Liz bit her lip. She didn't know if she should be here. Coming here had made sense to help Luke put their mother's estate in order (Katherine Danes had passed away earlier that year). And leaving her son, Jess, with her current boyfriend... She placed a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"I should go." She did not wait for his response, turning on her heel and leaving. Though she was abandoning her brother at a critical time, Liz did not know what else to do. Forgetting his sister, Luke turned back to Rory.

"Take me to your mom."

Rory led Luke inside. He nearly threw up at the sight.

Lorelai was hooked up to monitors and wires. A bandage was wrapped around her head. The eldest Gilmore must have been weak or limited in motion, for she now turned her head very slowly. Rory came up to her bedside.

"You're going to get better... won't you, Mommy?"

Lorelai shook her head, even as her eyes filled with tears. Her voice now came out in a weak croak. "I'm dying, baby."

Rory staggered backwards, as if she had been struck. "No... no..."

Lorelai gave her an almost gentle look. "Rory, look at me. Can I... speak to Luke for a moment?"

Rory ran from the room in tears. Luke approached his best friend's bedside. His heart broke to see her like this. She couldn't die! Not spunky, zesty Lorelai - so full of life and spirit!

"Luke..." Lorelai strained to lift her head off the pillow. "We're best friends, right?"

"You're damn right we are!" Luke's voice shook even as he attempted to keep his emotions in check.

"And we'd do anything for each other, right?"

"Right."

"Can you do something for me?" The woman paused to collect herself. "I re-wrote my will several months ago... If anything happened to me... I gave you custody of Rory, and permission to adopt her. Luke... take care of my girl..."

Luke clasped her hand. "Lorelai... don't die..."

"Take care of Rory... please..."

Luke nodded. "I will," he choked out.

"Take care of my girl... take care of my girl..." Lorelai was fading fast. Luke grabbed Rory from the hall, allowing for mother and daughter to share one last goodbye. Sharing a chaste kiss with Rory, Lorelai finally succumbed to her injuries.

Rory's sobs and wails echoed throughout the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2: Why God, Why?

**Chapter 2: Why, God, Why?**

The night around Stars Hollow was still, save for the sounds of crickets chirping and frogs ribbitting. Up in the loft above the Diner, Luke sat by the window and lit a cigarette. He only ever smoked in very high-strung, stressful situations, and this was definitely one of those times.

After Lorelai's death, Luke was presented with a copy of Lorelai's last will and testament, ordering that he raise Rory if anything happened to her. In their years of friendship, Luke had heard all the sorry details of Rory's father being in abstentia and the estrangement between Lorelai and her parents. But even with all that, he had never expected Lorelai to turn to _him_ as a suitable parental figure.

Now, on this first night without the energetic Inn Manager on Earth, Luke watched her child sleep in his bed (he had opted to sleep on a mattress on the floor). A child that was not even his, but that he - Luke - was now responsible for.

Just a few hours earlier, Luke had been at a show, blissfully unaware of how his world would soon turn upside down. Even so, he found himself thinking back to that performance, a question asked in it - one of many questions actually, questions that don't ever end:

 _"Why, God? Why today?... Who is the girl in this rusty bed? Why am I back in a filthy room? Why is her voice ringing in my head? Why am I high on her cheap perfume?... I mean you no offense, but why does nothing here make sense?"_

Luke crossed to the bed and sat down on the edge, stroking Rory's hair, the questions still inundating his mind. _"Why me? What's your plan? I can't help her! No one can! I liked my memories as they were, but now I'll leave remembering her..."_ Luke seriously thought about running away, too broken to face the task before him. But then, he lost himself in Rory's sleeping form. Even after losing her mother, she looked so peaceful, and innocent. Luke had watched her grow up, feeding her day after day. His heart ached when he remembered how, in those first few years he had known them, Lorelai and Rory would have to return to the potting shed they once lived in behind the Independence Inn, still cold and still poor, even if they were fed. Running away, however brief, had helped Luke deal with losing his father. But if he did the same to grieve Lorelai... Rory would die. Would she have to live in the potting shed? Or worse, beg on the streets? No! Luke would die first before that happened! If he left, Lorelai would never forgive him. And damn it if he didn't love Rory as if she was his own child! A stew of anguish and deep love eating away at him, Luke still sent up his thoughts of incomprehension to a seemingly irrational deity, even as he left behind the only thing he could - a part of himself. He was no longer just a man. He was a father.

 _"Why, God? Why this face? Why such beauty in this place? I liked my memories as they were, but now I'll leave remembering her! Just her!"_

* * *

 **A/N: I have been listening to the _Miss Saigon_ soundtrack lately, and this song and imagining Luke thinking about this with Rory gave me the idea for this fic. **


	3. Chapter 3: What's This I Find?

**Chapter 3: What's This I Find?**

Several months passed. Lorelai was given a proper funeral. The house on Maple Street was sold; Luke put some of the revenue into a bank account, as part of a college fund for Rory. The rest he used to help pay for Rory's tuition at Chilton.

Rory was very grateful, and even though Luke did not ask it of her, she began working at the Diner in return. So it was one morning, as Rory was manning the counter while Luke was on break. The diner owner now came in followed by several of his excited neighbors; the young Danes was waving a piece of paper around excitedly. Luke approached the counter.

"Rory..." He paused, trying to collect himself. "How would you like it if I adopted you?"

" _Adopt_ me?" Rory gasped. Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Luke!" She flung herself into his arms.

Luke laughed. "I'll take that as a yes. I have the papers right here! All we have to do is sign." Luke affixed his name to the document, and Rory followed. Their Stars Hollow neighbors burst into applause as father and daughter now hugged. Kirk volunteered to run the paper down to the town courthouse so that Luke could get back to work, and this he did upon Luke's acquiescence. Moments after Kirk left, two men suddenly rushed into the diner. Rory froze when she saw the one man in the leather jacket: it was Christopher Hayden, her biological father. She had only visited him once several years before, but she still recognized him. Upon seeing his daughter, Christopher beckoned her to him and Rory went to him as if pulled by a magnet.

"You're here! At last! I've come to take you home!" Chris said, drinking in the sight of her even as Rory shook her head in partial fear and partial disbelief. "Rory - tell your friends it's time to go away! This life - it ends; you're safe with me today!"

Luke now jumped in. "This girl is mine -"

"Yours?" Chris spun around.

"Now -"

"You?! Who are you?!" Both men demanded of each other. Greaser punk and diner owner made to leap at each other, but Rory got between them. "Stop!" she begged.

"Who is this man?" Chris demanded.

"Get out of here!" Luke bellowed, even as Chris grabbed Rory's arm again.

"You have no right to be here!" Rory told her father, now remembering the new reality she and Luke shared. "I'm not a prize you can claim! I haven't seen you since I was thirteen! The woman I am now is not the same!"

"Your grandparents ordered me to take care of you if anything happened to your mom! You must have known I would come back for you! Why didn't you wait?"

"Mom hadn't spoken to her parents since you went Pacific-side!" Rory told him. "Any wishes they had died when she died!"

Enraged, Chris suddenly drew a gun from his jacket, as did the second man - his friend - who had come with him. Screams split the diner as Luke drew his own gun. Even as she hit the deck, Rory stared. She had not known how Luke always kept himself armed - an old habit from his Army days. Though he always made sure to keep the equipment locked away in a safe when not in use.

Biological father and adoptive father now faced off.

"Leave this man behind!" Chris ordered his daughter. Rory stood defiantly, blocking Chris's aim at Luke.

"Go on -"

"Rory!" Luke screamed, switching his sights to the young Hayden's accomplice.

" - and _shoot_!" Rory goaded Chris. "I will not change my mind!" She had made her decision. She had a new father, and she would honor her mother's final wishes.

"You are still mine!" Chris screeched.

"Not anymore!" Rory begged.

"You're mine until we die! Stars Hollow... is DOOMED! And so is your G.I.!" Chris had found Rory only after asking around the town, in the process being directed to Luke and learning of his past.

"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" Luke roared.

"You broke your grandfather's word!" Chris spat at Rory. "This is your curse!" And thus cursing everyone in the diner, Chris stormed out with his friend, even as Luke kept his gun trained on them.

"Rory!" Luke pushed her back, taunting the fleeing men into fighting. "Come on! Come on!" But they were gone.

Rory buried herself into Luke's flannel shirt, and he hugged her back. "It's all right," he soothed. "You're safe now."

* * *

 **A/N: More _Miss Saigon_ parallels! This is, of course, based on the confrontation between Christopher Scott and Thuy. Some of the dialogue is even the same. Thuy and Chris Hayden both have similar emotional personalities, as they both lose their shit when faced with new information, and turn into whiny little bitches. **


	4. Chapter 4: Strike a Deal

**Chapter 4: Strike a Deal**

Today was Rory's first day at Chilton. Luke drove her to nearby Hartford in his truck. He had to admit, he was slowly improving on this whole father thing. Christopher had not returned since storming the diner the day Rory had been adopted.

Pulling up to the school, Rory gathered her things and prepared to disembark. "Have a good day at school, princess," Luke smiled.

Rory turned back around and hugged him. Then, she did something she had never done before and pecked his cheek. "Bye, Daddy!"

She had been calling Luke that for several weeks now, but that did not mean Luke did not feel a flurry of pride when she said it. Watching his new reason for living disappear into the building, Luke turned around for home.

Upon returning to the diner, Caesar approached Luke as he walked in the door. "Luke, there's a lady here to see you."

Luke frowned. "Why? Who is she?" He racked his brain. He had no appointment today. Was it the landlord? Someone from the bank? He was sure he had gotten his finances in order for Rory to attend Chilton.

Crossing around the counter, Luke approached a lady in a pink dress. "May I help you?"

"Are you the diner man who is apparently now raising my granddaughter?" the lady barked.

Luke blinked. Oh, boy... here we go... "And you must be Emily. Lorelai told me quite a bit about you." _Like how you were a control-freak. Oh, and did you know her baby daddy is a whiny little bitch?_

"I need to speak with Rory."

"She's in school at the moment."

Emily bristled. "A good institution, I hope?"

Luke briefly debated whether to say where Rory attended. "Chilton. Your daughter had gotten her accepted there just before she died."

"No thanks to you, I'm sure," Emily postulated snootily. Luke wanted to hit her. Lorelai had gotten Rory accepted there, but _he_ was the one who was paying, thank you very much!

"Anything else?"

"I want Rory to pack her things when she comes home. She is leaving with me."

"Like hell she is," Luke snarled.

Emily blinked in astonishment; Luke wondered if she had ever been refused anything in her entire life. "It was her mother's wishes! _Our_ wishes! My husband's especially!"

"And that's a damn lie!" Luke barked. He recalled the last thing Christopher had said before leaving the diner, about Rory breaking her grandfather's word. When he had questioned his adopted daughter about it later, she had claimed she had no idea what he had been talking about. And even if such an arrangement were true, it would have been annulled when Lorelai changed her will. "Those may have been your wishes, but they weren't your daughter's!"

Emily turned her nose up at him. "And who are you to pretend to know what Lorelai wanted?"

Luke's eyes narrowed. "Do you want proof?" he growled.

Emily looked so taken aback, she actually nodded. Luke exited to the back of the diner, retrieving the safe he kept hidden. Unlocking it, he pulled out two documents before returning to the front and showing them to Emily. The first was Lorelai's last Will and Testament. The second was a copy of the custody adoption papers Luke and Rory had signed. Upon reading the will, Emily blanched. "It's not possible..."

"Oh, it's possible, all right. Lorelai changed her will several months before she died. We were friends for years. I fed her and Rory every day!" Luke got emotional just remembering. "And on her deathbed, she needed someone to look after Rory, and it certainly wasn't going to be you! She asked _me_! She made me promise to raise your granddaughter! I've been doing it for over a month now!"

Emily's gaze was hard, defiant. "And look where we're standing, Luke."

Luke didn't back down. "Go ahead. Go round up your lawyers and try to come after me. I have Lorelai on my side and I have the documentation on my side, too! You can't fight that!"

Slowly, Emily's gaze deflated. She was a very stubborn woman, but even she could see when the deck was stacked against her, rare though those moments might be. She straightened. "Fine," she sniffed. "I'll make you a deal."

Luke stiffened. "What?"

"You get to keep and raise Rory. In return, you both come to our house for dinner every Friday. Richard and I deserve the right to see our grandchild. Do we have a deal?"

Luke thought for a moment. A part of himself still didn't trust Emily as far as he could throw her. But, Rory did deserve to have a relationship with her grandparents. And maybe Lorelai would have wanted that, at the very least. He held out a hand. "Deal."

Emily shook, giving him a satisfied, but still somewhat fake, smile. "See you on Friday." And she swept out of the diner.

* * *

Luke scratched at his shirt collar as he pulled his truck up to the immaculate Gilmore mansion. Looking over to the shotgun seat, he watched as Rory nervously smoothed down her dress. She was biting her lip - the telltale sign that she was anxious.

"Ready, princess?"

"No."

"It's only once a week."

"For the rest of our natural lives?" Rory finished almost in horror.

"Nah. Just until you go to college," though in reality, he wasn't sure. Regardless, if this was the hoop he had to jump through to keep Rory, he would do it for the rest of his natural life if he had to. Adopted father and daughter got out and approached the front door. Both stood awkwardly, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"We'll never get to leave it you don't push it, you know," Luke pointed out, which prompted Rory to finally ring the doorbell. After a moment, Emily answered.

"Rory!" she hugged her granddaughter, not noticing the grimace Rory sent Luke's way over her shoulder. "Lucas!" she now actually hugged Luke, who flinched at the formal use of his name. As the guests followed Emily into the foyer, Luke hissed to his daughter, "You've got to tell her right now to not call me Lucas. It's Luke."

"I'll try, but don't get your hopes up. Mama used to say she is very formal."

Luke met Richard, Rory's grandfather - a somewhat portly but still jovial man. Luke recalled Lorelai once telling him that he was a lawyer.

The meal started off quietly, at first. Then, Richard broke the ice: "So, Luke, Emily tells me you run a diner?"

Luke nodded. "Yes, sir. My apartment's right above it, and that's where Rory and I live."

"And you're paying for Chilton?" Emily gasped. Luke quickly saw through her attempt to sound impressed as a veiled and snooty disbelief. "Richard, we should cover some of the cost!"

"Oh, no, that's fine, I got it..." Luke tried to explain.

"Nonsense! Those tuition bills take quite the hit on your checkbook!" Richard nodded from experience. "Remember how much we paid for Lorelai's schooling?" he asked his wife.

"Oh, yes, I've never _seen_ so many zeros!" Emily laughed, as if Richard had just told some really funny joke.

"I've got it," Luke insisted, the phrase coming out a little too loudly. "Rory's mine. I got it."

An awkward silence fell over the table.

* * *

Luke and Rory left for Stars Hollow a few hours later. The rest of the dinner had gone by cordially, but Luke could not shake the feeling that he had said something wrong.

"There were just trying to help, you know," Rory finally spoke up, clearly referring to the tuition issue.

Luke looked to her. "You don't think I can do it alone?"

"No!" Rory looked almost frightened that she had angered him or hurt his pride. "I'm just saying we don't know what might happen in the future financially. Leave the door open, at least."

Luke nodded, understanding her advice. He patted her knee affectionately. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, princess."


	5. Chapter 5: Happy Birthday, Princess

**Chapter 5: Happy Birthday, Princess**

October 8th, 2001. 4 A.M. Luke shut off his set alarm before it even started ringing, and tiptoed into his adopted daughter's room. The clock on her nightstand now read 4:03 AM. He gently nudged Rory awake.

"Huh?"

"Happy Birthday, princess," Luke whispered.

Even in the darkness, Rory's eyes shone. "You remembered?" she whispered.

Luke shrugged. "Your mom used to say it was a tradition."

Rory nodded, remembering. "Wow, I feel important."

"You _are_ important," Luke assured her, sitting on the edge of her bed. "And you know something?"

"What?"

"I think you're a great kid, and the best sidekick an old fogey like me could have."

Rory giggled. "Especially when all the customers are hollering for their pancakes!"

"Oh, yes. Whatever would I do without you armed and ready to fire maple syrup everywhere?" Luke stroked her hair. "Damn, you're growing up so fast."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. It's just so hard to believe that... 17 years ago, your mom was in the exact position you are in now."

Rory yawned and nestled back into the pillows. "Oh, boy. Did she teach this story to you before...?"

"No. But she would tell it often enough when she came in for her morning coffee. Anyway, there she was, only she was apparently huge, with big, fat ankles and swearing like a sailor..."

"On leave," Rory interjected.

"Right! I knew it was some simile like that! So there she was, in labor, feeling as though she was doing the splits on a crate of dynamite."

Rory smirked. "Another simile?"

"Hey, she used that one, I remember! And being surrounded as she was by hundreds of doctors, she just assumed that there was a function for the ice chips they gave her."

"There wasn't," Rory recited.

"But I bet pelting the nurses sure was epic!" Luke laughed. He could see Lorelai now, chucking ice chips left and right at anyone who got too close to her. Rory was beginning to drift off, so Luke planted a kiss to her forehead. "Good night, baby girl."

"Good night, Daddy. I love you," Rory mumbled as Luke closed the door behind him.

Luke had never imagined himself to be a father. But even if Lorelai had not died, he knew there was nothing else he could have been, or would rather be, to Rory than her father.


End file.
